


Breaking Barriers

by Celanna192



Series: Breaking Barriers [1]
Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 19:46:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2704349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celanna192/pseuds/Celanna192
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sebastian finally returns home after walking out of Beacon Memorial Hospital.  </p><p>This is the response to my Looking for Challenge.</p><p>Mature for language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking Barriers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Master_Magician](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Master_Magician/gifts), [YunaBlaze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/gifts).



The apartment was cleaner than when he had left it. Joseph must have come by after forensics finished their investigation to tidy the place up. He noticed about two weeks worth of dust on the coffee table, which would have been about when Joseph disappeared. Like Myra and himself, Joseph had gotten too close to the truth. That's why they took him. Why they took them all. 

Sebastian entered his small kitchen. Like the living room, it had been cleaned during his absence. A pile of bills lay sitting on the small plastic folding table. They had been opened. He figured Joseph had probably taken care of a few bills that were close to being due. It didn't surprise him. He had done the same for his partner when he had been stranded in France after that volcano in Iceland blew its top. 

The fridge was completely empty. No doubt Joseph's doing. From what he had been told at the precinct, he had been missing for over a month. Tonight was his first night back home, even though it had been over a week since he walked out of Beacon Memorial Hospital. His chief had insisted that he be checked out at Krimson City Medical Center. They had kept him for three days, much to his dismay. They finally let him go after he threatened to rip out his IV and walk out with nothing more than the hospital gown provided to him. The rest of the week he spent at the precinct doing everything he could to find Joseph and Kidman. His chief finally got fed up with him and told him to go on "vacation." The chief had taken his badge and gun and told him not to come back for two weeks. The man had even given him a sum of money to spend on an actual vacation. Not that he would. He didn't even know if he could make it to the mailbox in his current state. It was a miracle that he was able to make it home. Though it helped that one of his fellow officers drove him home. In the back seat of the cruiser no less. He closed the door to his refrigerator. Refrigerators were marvelous inventions, but even they couldn't make food last forever. He looked through the cupboards to see if Joseph left any food behind. He managed to find a cache of canned soup in the back of one of the cupboards over his stove. It would do him for now until he could trust himself to go to the grocery store without suffering a psychotic break.

Sebastian settled into his couch in the living room. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his cable was still on. He flipped through the channels for a few minutes before settling in on a horror film. With all he had been through, he would have thought horror movies would be the last thing he'd ever want to watch. However, it seemed to be the only thing that he can relate to anymore. After walking through Hell, Texas Chainsaw Massacre felt like a day time soap opera. That was an idea. Maybe he could pen a soap opera based on the hellish world he lived in for the last month. The various creatures he encountered would be his characters. Complete with a wealthy manipulative bastard and an a couple of unwitting cops working in a corrupt police force. He laughed at his thoughts as he settled in and ate is microwave heated soup. 

The heat from the water soothed his phantom injuries. In the STEM he had been beaten, strangled, slashed, stabbed, and impaled. However, his body showed no sign of injury after he was unplugged. That didn't mean that the injuries he did sustain while hooked in didn't hurt. He rubbed his chest. There was a faint bruise where he had been impaled during his final fight. It was the only evidence left to prove he had lived his experience. He pushed those dark thoughts away and allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of hot water running down his skin, taking with it phantom blood and dirt. 

He settle down on his couch. His damp hair was cooling from the chilled air in his apartment. He found the feeling to be rather refreshing. He picked up the remote and clicked to another horror film. This one was about people eating slugs. He couldn't help but chuckle as his developing morbid sense of humor found a scene of a couple being eaten alive right after they had sex to be rather funny. As the movie played, Sebastian's eyes wandered around his living room. The clean walls and orderly placement of his furniture seemed so out of place. It was almost abnormal. His walls were void of the cracks, holes, and debris he had gotten so used to seeing. The fact that his walls were in perfect condition unsettled him. Over the noise from his television, he heard his neighbors down stairs moaning and groaning. It wasn't the haunting moans of the those lost to the STEM, but of a couple fucking on their couch, living room floor, or whatever. The noise seemed so foreign to him, yet he knew that his neighbors were a rather intimate pair. He had endured at least one sleepless night a week because of them. That was before Hell. Now, he almost wished for the sorrowful moaning of the haunted. An odd though popped into his head as he imagined one of the Keepers bursting through their living room door. Their screams filled his thoughts as the Keeper's hammer crashed down on the man. The woman screamed, trying to run, but the Keeper being too quick would grab her hair and smash her face through the floor. As the dark thought disbursed, he returned his gaze to the television set. The noise from his neighbors had quieted. He assumed that they had finished.

His eyes fell onto a photo album on the bottom shelf of his bookcase. Like the rest of the house it was clean. However, Sebastian knew it should have had months of dust coating its surface. He hadn't touched the book in so long. Joseph must have cleaned it while he tidied up the rest of the apartment. Sebastian wondered if Joseph took a moment to look through it. Feeling tempted, Sebastian retrieved the book and began thumbing through it.

The photo album brought back many memories. A party at the precinct celebrating his and Myra's engagement. Photos from their wedding. Photos of Lily minutes after she was born, and while she grew. Photos of him and Joseph acting like fools at a barbecue held by one of their co-workers. For all the memories that came back to him, the flood of emotion he expected did not. He was numb. The photographs represented a time and place that was long gone. There would be no happiness going forward. No joy. No sorrow. All that seemed to remain in him was darkness.

Joseph had been with him in the STEM. His last memory of him was of him being shot by Kidman. Kidman. He had trusted her. He should be angry with her. However, he only felt emptiness. She was one of many riddles to the madness he endured. Perhaps one day he would solve it. 

Officially, Sebastian was the only one to walk away. Everyone else came out in a body bag. Everyone except for Joseph. His body was never found. This gave him a grain of hope that Joseph was still alive out there. Maybe with Kidman. Sebastian endured many questions about the incident. He could tell that many of his fellow officers felt that he may have something to do with all of the deaths. He couldn't blame them. He would think the same of any of them if they had been the only one to walk out unscathed from a massacre. Current evidence didn't support their theory. He couldn't tell his superiors the truth. Well, he could but he'd be committed. He needed to be mobile right now. Especially if he was to find Joseph and Kidman.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knocking at his door. He gently closed the book. The numb feeling never going away. As he reached his front door, he chuckled lightly at the fact that he had actually dressed after his shower. His visitor probably wouldn't realize their luck. Prior to his capture, he had an incident when a religious solicitor had come to his door. The man had filed a report for indecent exposure, which meant Sebastian had some explaining to do. The charges didn't go anywhere, but it was somewhat embarrassing to have IA question him about his dressing habits while in his own home. 

He was mildly startled to see a familiar face when he opened the door. The young man's white hair was still a mess. That mop had probably never seen a comb. However, it was now caked with dirt. The young man's pale face was worse for wear as well. A solid bruise was forming around his left eye. Blood was caked around his lips from a bloody nose that may or may not have stopped. His hospital clothes were torn and muddy. The kid had definitely been in a fight. Without any words spoken between them, Sebastian invited Ruvik in.

He motioned for Ruvik to sit on the couch. Though the young man hesitated, he ultimately complied. Sebastian didn't mind if a little mud got on it. The old couch had seen worse because of him. The detective went to his bathroom to prepare a damp washcloth for Ruvik. That nose needed to be tended to. 

Sebastian returned to the living room to see Ruvik scanning his apartment. His hands were folded neatly in his lap as his eyes wandered from wall to wall, ceiling to floor. There was a faint hint of awe on the young man's face. However, Sebastian could sense that he was unsettled by the pristine walls as much as he was. The horrors his mind had conjured up had been his entire world. For Ruvik, the demons he suffered mentally became reality as soon as his brain had been plucked from his body to become the battery for the STEM machine. A machine he had created, only to be sacrificed to. Only Ruvik could tell how long his mind had been imprisoned within the damn thing. He had escaped with Sebastian's unwitting help through Leslie's body. Though he had been a god in his own world, it would seem that the real one wasn't treating him as kindly.

Without words, Sebastian began cleaning the blood off of Ruvik's face. The young man didn't even fight him as he gently ran the damp cloth around his nose and lips. Ruvik's eye was beginning to swell up from the blow it received. Sebastian made a note to get him the cold pack he had stored in his freezer. Joseph had insisted that he had one on hand considering how often he got hurt stumbling around after barhopping after work. 

A soft hand gently reached up to grab his. Motioning for him to stop. Sorrowful eyes looked back at him. 

"Why are you helping me?" Ruvik whispered. "With everything I've put you through, you should have shot me as soon as you saw me."

"For what it's worth I'm not helping you. I'm helping Leslie. Besides, my gun was confiscated for the duration of my vacation." Sebastian replied. "Go hop in the shower. It's the down the hall on the right. I don't have any clothes that'll fit you, but you're welcome to the bathrobe. It's freshly laundered."

Sebastian stuck Ruvik's clothing in the wash while the young man showered. He figured that he'd feed the kid too while he was here. He set up a bowl of soup in the microwave when he heard the shower turn off. The bathrobe was too big for Ruvik, however, it was all he had to offer. In an hour or so his clothes would be cleaned. Ruvik would just have to deal with it until then. The beep of the microwave told him that the soup was ready. He brought the bowl out into the living room. Ruvik had already made a place for himself on the couch. Another horror movie was playing on the television. Another creature feature. This one starring spiders.

The two of them sat in silence as the movie played. Ruvik gave no indication on whether he found the soup good or bad. Sebastian seemed to get a sense that Ruvik was glad to have something warm in his stomach. 

"Aren't you going to ask me if you can stay?" Sebastian asked. 

"You want me to beg?" Ruvik asked in return.

"Pride is probably keeping you from verbalizing it, but I can sense the question hanging on the tip of your tongue. I figured you might like to actually ask like a normal person instead of me reading your mind for it." Sebastian replied. 

"You've changed quite a bit. Your consciousness has grown. I'm impressed." Ruvik remarked.

"I'm losing my humanity because of you. I don't care how impressed you are." Sebastian retorted dryly. "Ask your damn question."

"Instead of me asking, could we make it a bargain. Just for the sake of my pride?" Ruvik asked. "In exchange for lodging and food, I'll not only help you find Joseph, but the answers you've been seeking since the fire. The people who killed your daughter were from the same organization who stole my work and took my brain to power my machine." Ruvik offered.

Sebastian thought over Ruvik's offer. There was no deceit in the young man's voice. There was no malicious intent on his mind. The detective weighed everything he knew about Ruvik, the mysterious organization who felt that it was their right to ruin innocent lives. The organization who had no qualms about killing children. He felt sympathy from Ruvik when he mentioned the word "fire." He remembered that the man had lost his sister to a barn fire set by a group of irate farmers. As the thought of flames filled his mind, anger swelled deep with in him. He shut his eyes tight trying to fight off the rage that threatened to take over him. 

He felt a cold hand gently lay itself upon his hand. The rage began to subside. Leaving the emptiness to return. He looked to Ruvik. Worried eyes stared back at him. His answer to Ruvik's offer was becoming clear. But, he had a condition.

"I'll accept. However, when we find anyone tied to this mystery organization, I won't hold back. I want them to pay. I don't want justice. I want revenge." Sebastian declared. He ran shaky fingers through his now dry hair. The rage was welling up again. 

Ruvik flipped open the photo album on the table. He could feel Sebastian's rage being directed at him now for touching something so sacred as if it were an artifact. Ruvik ignored the feeling and perused the pages. Happy faces stared back at him from those pages. He stopped at a particular photo. It was a family portrait. Sebastian's daughter couldn't have been more than three when the photograph was taken. Though Lily was fussy and uncooperative with the photographer, her parents were positively beaming. When the photograph had been taken, they were trying to comfort their crying daughter. However, they were smiling. Even if she wasn't. It was an organic scene, which he guessed was why it was chosen over a more perfect portrait. He thought to his own family's portrait. The solemn faces of his family staring back at him in his mind. Their families contrasted so starkly when compared to each other, yet he and the detective suffered similar losses. It was that loss that would fuel their lust for revenge. 

"Revenge. You're sounding a lot like me. Remember when I asked you if you could live with what I would make you do?" Ruvik mused. "Can you live with what I want you to do? Can you live with the what I have in mind for those who have caused us so much pain?"

"As long as they pay with their own blood and not by proxy through someone else, then yes." Sebastian answered without hesitation. 

He thought about Ruvik's assessment of him. He was starting to sound like the twerp. In a way he took it as a compliment. It felt like a barrier was breaking in his mind. A barrier that had once been the line between right and wrong. Good and evil. The barrier began to crack when he lost his faith. The same day his daughter died. It cracked further after his beloved Myra went missing and no one save Joseph and Connelly would help him search for her. Now Joseph was gone, and Connelly was dead. There was nothing left to hold the barrier in place. Ruvik's gently prodding was all it took to demolish it completely. 

"As long as they pay with their own blood and not by proxy through someone else? I can agree to that." Ruvik responded. "We have an agreement then?"

"Yes." Sebastian answered.

"Wonderful. First thing's first. You may need to construct a bit of a story to tell your co-workers about any noises coming from your neighbor's apartment. The Keeper left quite a mess." Ruvik suggested.

"Good thing I've been watching horror movies all night." Sebastian replied nonchalantly.

**Author's Note:**

> Response to Looking for Challenge. Challenges chosen were Master_Magician and YunaBlaze. Thank you guys for your suggestions. I hope everyone enjoyed the fic. :)


End file.
